Pavements such as roads, airport runways, and parking lots commonly develop cracks by reason of temperature induced expansion or contraction. Such cracks are worsened if moisture is permitted to enter the cracks and if freezing and thawing occurs. It is desirable to grind or saw a groove in the pavement along these cracks to provide an expansion and contraction joint and to then fill the groove with an appropriate resilient and weather resistant sealant to preclude water or moisture from entering the groove.
An example of a prior art pavement grooving machine is illustrated in the U.S. Zuzelo Pat. No. 3,747,981, issued July 24, 1973. Such machines have the deficiency of being difficult for the operator to guide along a non-linear crack. Additionally, the grooving blade or grinding discs available for use in grooving pavement are subject to relatively rapid wear and must be replaced frequently. In machines such as that shown in the Zuzelo patent, where the grooving blades are mounted centrally in the machine, access to the blades is difficult and substitution of blades can be labor intensive and time consuming.
Other prior art machines for use in working a crack in pavement have included a relatively small frame supported on casters and with the frame supporting an engine. The engine is mounted on a rearward portion of the frame and the casters are positioned beneath that portion of the frame to support the weight of the engine. A grinding wheel or saw is supported by a forward portion of the frame and adjacent one side of the frame. That machine is pulled forwardly by the operator with the grinding wheel or saw blade following the crack to form a narrow groove having parallel sides.
In many applications it is desirable to bevel the sides of the grooves formed in the pavement in order to facilitate the insertion of the resilient sealing material. Using the common prior art machines, once the grooving machine is used to form a groove, the beveled sides are formed by using manual or hand held grinding tools.
Attention is also directed to the U.S. Hisao Tomita et al. Pat. No. 3,001,778, issued Sept. 26, 1961; the U.S. Metzger Pat. No. 3,127,887, issued Apr. 7, 1964; the U.S. Regan Pat. No. 3,886,925, issued June 3, 1975; the U.S. Tatko Pat. No. 3,196,584, issued July 27, 1965; and the U.S. Benson et al. Pat. No. 4,267,814, issued May 19, 1981.